Credit: AP

After a disastrous rookie season, and a shaky first preseason game last week, it's only fair -- at the risk of piling on -- to point out when Cyrus Jones does something positive.

Saturday night qualifies.

The Patriots cornerback showed strides in the return game in the team's loss to the Houston Texans. Jones came away with two productive returns, a 32-yard punt return in the second quarter as well as a 15-yarder late in the game where he made some defenders miss.

Bill Belichick noted Jones' solid decision-making.

"I thought Cyrus did a good job in the return game, both punts and kickoffs," the Patriots coach said on a conference call. "He ran hard, ran aggressively, made good decisions, with and without the ball. We had a couple situations where the ball hit the ground or was going out of bounds, and so I thought he did a nice job."